Minneapolis
\nDemocrats and local officials in Minneapolis have expressed outrage at the detention of a five-year-old boy in a massive immigration crackdown, as US Vice President JD Vance defended federal agents\u2019 actions.
\nThousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been deployed to the Democratic-led city, as the administration of President Donald Trump presses its campaign to deport what it says are millions of illegal immigrants across the country.
\nVance confirmed on Thursday that the five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, was among those detained, but argued that agents were protecting the boy after his father \u201cran\u201d from an immigration sweep.
\n\u201cWhat are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death?\u201d he said.
\nDemocratic Texas congressman Joaquin Castro rejected that explanation, branding Homeland Security authorities \u201csick liars.\u201d
\nCastro said that he had not been able to locate the boy, who was reportedly being held with his father in San Antonio, Texas.
\n\u201cMy staff and I have been working to figure out his whereabouts, make sure that he\u2019s safe and also to demand his release by ICE,\u201d he said in a video posted on X.
\nBut ICE \u201chave not given us information,\u201d he said.
\nFormer US vice president Kamala Harris said she was \u201coutraged\u201d by Ramos\u2019s detention.
\n\u201cLiam Ramos is just a baby. He should be at home with his family, not used as bait by ICE and held in a Texas detention center,\u201d she wrote on X.
\nHarris shared a photo of the child wearing a blue knitted hat with dangling, white rabbit ears, while a person behind him appears to hold onto his backpack.
\nAnother photo circulating online shows Ramos escorted by a man wearing black clothes and a black face covering.
\nFormer US secretary of state Hillary Clinton accused law enforcement of \u201cterrorising a population\u201d and \u201cusing children as pawns.\u201d
\nMinneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the federal government was treating children \u201clike criminals.\u201d
\nFrey said the influx of 3,000 federal agents felt like an \u201coccupation,\u201d the Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper reported.
\nThe Homeland Security department rejected claims that ICE agents targeted the child, saying he had been \u201cabandoned\u201d by his father during an operation to arrest the man.
\n\u201cFor the child\u2019s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended (his father) Conejo Arias,\u201d it posted on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minneapolis Democrats and local officials in Minneapolis have expressed outrage at the detention of a five-year-old boy in a massive immigration crackdown, as US Vice President JD Vance defended federal agents\u2019 actions. Thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been deployed to the Democratic-led city, as the administration of President Donald Trump presses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-527366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n